How to Live for 300 Years
Jurojin, the Japanese god of longevity
Disclaimer: The following is for entertainment purpose only. Please seek out your medical professional and physician for guidance. This article does not constitute a medical advice and the author in no way, shape or form is responsible for any misinterpretation or misconstrue of the content herein.
Introduction
In the past few years, scientists have discovered an incredible new way to live for hundreds of years. It's called parabiosis and it works like this: you get your blood transfused into someone else who is already living with the same genetic mutation that causes ageing in humans. The idea is that we might be able to unlock longevity by using parabiosis technology - but how do we know if it will work? And what other side effects might there be? Let's take a look at why scientists think this might be possible...
Meet the people who want to live forever.
When you meet the people who want to live forever, you'll see that they're not all crazy. In fact, most of them are sane and rational. They're just different from us in some way—and perhaps also better than us at being human beings.
The Immortalists: A group of scientists and philosophers who want to find ways for humans to live beyond our current lifespan limits by 2060 or so (the oldest person on earth today is 111 years old). Their goal is "to extend life expectancy by an order of magnitude."
Singularity University: This school trains experts in AI and robotics so that when we start living forever in 2060 or 2100 (or whenever), there will be plenty educated people around who can figure out how things work together without having been directly involved with any technological breakthroughs yet!
The key to immortality may lie in a tiny worm.
To find out how to live for 300 years, you'll have to start by looking at the key that makes this possible. The worm C. elegans has a lifespan of around 20 days and has been the subject of longevity research for decades. The cells of planarian worm are immortal and both of these are used to study ageing and cancer, which are both factors in human longevity.
Some people think "prevention is better than cure" - they're wrong.
Some people think "prevention is better than cure". They're wrong. Prevention isn't a cure, it's just the opposite of curing.
The reason why prevention is not a cure for ageing, death or the ageing process in humans lies in the fact that biology can't be prevented or stopped completely - it just happens as part of life's natural progression. In other words: there is no such thing as absolute prevention (except maybe with vaccines).
The first step towards immortality is understanding ageing.
The first step towards immortality is understanding ageing.
What is ageing?
Ageing is the gradual process of wearing out, becoming less effective and less efficient. In other words, it’s the inevitable decline in your body – physical and mental – that occurs as time passes by. It also means that you no longer have the same capabilities as when you were young (or even younger); this includes strength, agility, speed and stamina. Your skin loses its elasticity; muscles weaken; bones start to break down; hair falls out…you get the idea!
Why do we age? One reason could be the fact that there are no magic pills or potions to delay or reverse our ageing process; however there are things researchers have discovered about how our bodies work which can help us live longer lives:
In fact, scientists have already turned the ageing process off in mice.
In fact, scientists have already turned the ageing process off in mice.
The research team at Harvard University genetically modified a strain of mice so that they lived up to 100 times longer than normal. They injected these super-aging mice with a protein called telomerase, which repairs damaged DNA (the stuff inside your cells that makes you alive) and keeps the length of their telomeres—the caps on the ends of chromosomes—longer than normal. The result? These long-lived animals showed no signs of getting sick or dying from age-related diseases like cancer or heart disease even though they were genetically equivalent to people who'd been born just days earlier!
Parabiosis is the key to unlocking longevity.
Parabiosis is the process of connecting two animals together, usually with the same blood type, to see what happens. It's been used to study ageing in mice and also humans.
The results were pretty cool: after parabiosis (weird word), some of these ageing mice lived for an extra ten years! In fact, it appears that your cells can live longer if you're connected with another person with similar DNA.
How parabiosis works.
In the parabiosis experiment, researchers use a technique called parabiosis to study how blood transfusions affect longevity. This technique involves connecting the circulatory systems of two animals and then injecting one with their partner's blood (in this case, you'd be giving your buddy some of your own).
The results aren't always positive: in mice, the new body part will grow larger than normal (and there have been instances where it has grown so large that it's impossible for them to function normally). But in humans—who are much more complex—it seems like we can live longer as well!
What we know about parabiosis so far.
Parabiosis is a surgical procedure that links the circulatory systems of two animals. It has been used to study the effects of ageing, disease and drug treatments on the body.
Parabiosis has also been used to study blood doping in sport, where athletes inject themselves with their own blood to increase performance.
The dark side of anti-ageing technology.
Parabiosis has been linked to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. It is also controversial because it involves the transfusion of blood from younger people into older ones.
Some researchers have argued that the science behind parabiosis does not support its benefits for longevity or health. Other scientists argue that parabiosis can be beneficial for certain conditions such as heart disease or kidney disease – though this benefit might only be temporary.
It's possible to unlock longevity by using parabiosis.
Parabiosis is a process in which the blood of an old and young animal is mixed. The results of parabiosis have been shown to have positive effects on the health of both animals, particularly if they’re young animals.
In one study, rats were injected with older rat blood cells and then fed on young rat food for 15 days. The rats that received this treatment had increased levels of stem cells in their bone marrow (the spongy tissue inside bones), which helps them repair damaged tissue throughout their body. They also had lower levels of inflammation compared to those who didn't receive the treatment—and these effects lasted up until five weeks after withdrawal from the treatment!
Conclusion
If you're reading this and thinking "But what about death?" then I want to tell you that there is a way out of death. And it's not by trying harder or doing more. It's just by living longer.
